Jersey

This past week we were so very blessed to go visit my brother and sister-in-law in New Jersey!  It was so great to see them and nice to see where they live and their day to day.  Cohen immediately took to Kyle and had him playing the moment we stepped in the door…

I hate that this picture is so blurry, I love it…

We couldn’t be that close to NYC without making a trip over.  So, we packed everyone up and headed to the city.  Our first stop was Macy’s to see Santa.  Waiting…

And yes, that is Keegan strapped to my chest.  That was his spot (which is why he isn’t in many pictures).

and finally…SANTA!

Cohen loved playing on the piano at FAO Schwartz…

The best picture I got of Cohen with Kyle & Marissa…

Checking out the NYPD horse patrol…

Rockefeller Center (Cohen fell asleep before we got there)…

Cohen loves the movie Madagascar and was super excited to see Grand Central Station and the clock that Melman gets his head stuck in…

We also rode the ferris wheel at Toys R Us…

Fun times, but tiring…

After our hop over to New York, we came back to Kyle & Marissa’s and spent the rest of our time there.  Cohen LOVED their dog, Amos.  He was so good with both boys…

The best part of the whole trip (other than just getting to hang out with Kyle & Marissa) was getting to see the planes that Kyle works on everyday.  Kyle is a boom operator in the Air Force just in case you don’t know.  It was so impressive.  The planes are huge and it’s incredible to me that they refuel in midair…and that my baby brother plays a huge roll in that process!  SO PROUD!

Overall, we had a great time and wish we didn’t live so far away.  Unfortunately, Kyle, Keegan and myself were really sick the last day we were there.  Kyle and I recovered quickly, but Keegan is still SO sick.  I feel awful for him and we’re all a bit worn down because of it.  We made another trip to the doctor today and have started some antibiotics so hopefully he’ll be on the mend soon.

Anyway…Kyle & Marissa, we love you so much and had such a great time.  Can’t wait until we see you again!!

Let the Christmas Fun Begin!

I don’t think I ever posted a picture of our Christmas tree once we got it all decorated, so here it is…

We don’t have a star to top our tree so I thought it might be fun if Cohen made one.  So, we gathered up some crafting supplies and got to work.

This is close to the final product…it was fun and maybe we’ll make it a yearly tradition…could be fun to see how the boys will get more and more creative as they get older.

Sporting our Santa hats…

We went to the Grapevine Parade of Lights this week.  Christian and I stopped ahead of time to get our favorite warm drinks and…

…yep…look at that adorable Starbucks kids cup with perfectly not too hot, not too cold hot chocolate inside.  Cohen was SO thrilled.  The parade was lots of fun and is another thing we’ll be making a yearly tradition.

We also got to enjoy our first Christmas celebration this year!  We went and celebrated with Grammee & Walt.  And, no, the matching outfits were totally coincidental…

It was lots of fun.  I must tell you, though, I got the best gift of the whole weekend!!  I was TOTALLY surprised when…

…MELISSA & TREVOR ARRIVED!!!!!  I was the only one who had no idea they were coming.  It was SO fun, shocking and exciting…I cried!  I am so blessed to have the best sister…

Thanks for getting them there Mom & Walt!!

Much more Christmas festivities to come, so stay tuned!

Thanksgiving 2010

This year we traveled to my dad’s house for Thanksgiving.  It was a great time with family and of course, great food.  Christian fried a turkey and we also had cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, bacon wrapped green beans, waldorf salad, homemade rolls and my grandmother’s peach cobbler…STUFFED!  It was all so good.  Keegan LOVED every bit of it.  He is really enjoying this real food thing.

My grandparents gave Cohen a magnifying glass while we were there.  It was so funny to watch him play with it…

Keegan tried to figure out the stairs…

My dad and Malinda gave Cohen and Keegan each a book where they recorded themselves reading a story to them.  They were really cute and Cohen has loved listening to them now that we’ve been home.

Keegan immediately took to my granddad.  Granddad would throw his arms up in the air and Keegan would do the same.  It was so cute.

The boys had a blast playing on the air mattress on the floor…TOGETHER!!

The boys with their great grandparents…

Cohen also got to make some Christmas cookies with Malinda and my grandmother which was a huge hit!

Despite the car trip there and back we had a great time!!  Thanks Dad & Malinda!

San Francisco

Christian and I had the wonderful privilege of traveling to San Francisco this past week for an early 10 year anniversary celebration…KID FREE!!!  This was the first time we had been away from either of our kids overnight…in almost 3 years…definitely long over due!

We left out early on Tuesday morning.  I’m always amazed every time I fly at the view from way up there.  Cohen asked me if this was snow…looks that way doesn’t it?

Once we arrived we just decided that we would walk the 8 blocks from the train station to our hotel since the cable cars (that would take us directly to our hotel) were so busy and packed.  We didn’t realize just how steep some of those SF hills are and of course, our hotel was at the very top of one.  We were exhausted by the time we got to the top.

Where we stayed, The Fairmont…

After catching our breaths we decided to go down to Fisherman’s Wharf…

We had heard about the famous sourdough bread and clam chowder and had both at Boudin…

After lunch, we headed over to Ghirardelli Square and had some ice cream.  YUM!!

We then got the bright idea to rent some bicycles and bike to and across the Golden Gate Bridge…an 8 mile ride.  (I failed to mention to Christian before we rented the bikes that I had not been on a bicycle since elementary school and I had never ridden a bike with gears before…oops!)  It took me a while to get going, but other than the steep hills we had to conquer I think I did pretty well.  Christian might tell a different story…

After we finally crossed the bridge we ate dinner in Sausilito and then took the ferry back across the bay to San Francisco.  (If we were millionaires we would be moving to Sausilito tomorrow…incredible little town we totally fell in love with).  On the way back to SF, we passed right by Alcatraz.

I was so amazed at the cargo ships coming and going…they are HUGE…those boxes on there are the backs of 18 wheelers!!  Incredible they can even stay afloat…

We rode the cable cars quite often, although they’re not the most reliable source of transportation.  They still turn them by hand at the stops…

When we got back to our hotel that evening we found a bottle of champange and some chocolate dipped strawberries waiting on us.  Nice!

The next day we checked out Chinatown.  Not as good as NYC, but the food was good!

We also went back down to the wharf and saw the bush man we had heard about.  He would hide behind these tree branches and jump out and scare people walking by…so childish, but I could’ve watched for hours…hilarious!!

I don’t have any pictures of this, but Wednesday night we had some FABULOUS food at Little Star Pizza and CandyBar.  If you’re ever in SF, these are a MUST…YUMMY!!!

On Thursday, we rented a car and saw a few more sights.  We drove Lombard Street…

and saw The Painted Ladies…

We then headed out to Napa for a few wine tastings at Bell and Biale.  Neither one of us really even like wine, but it was a fun experience and the time we had at Bell was especially nice and fun.

One of the highlights of our trip was getting to eat at Michael Chiarello’s restaurant in Napa, Bottega.  The food there was incredible and the best part…he was there that day and we got to meet him!!  We’ve watched him on PBS for years so it was fun to actually get to taste his food and meet the man himself.

All in all we had a blast.  Missed the kiddos like crazy, but certainly nice to be away for a few days.  Hopefully we won’t have to wait so long before our next trip together!  Happy early anniversary to us!!

My Best Friend’s Wedding

I had the most wonderful privilege of being the maid of honor in my sister’s wedding this past weekend.  It was SO fun and we had a great time seeing all of our family!

We made a stop in Ruidoso to see Opa & Oma before we headed to Portales for the big shindig.

Following are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend.  All of the kiddos immediately wanted to go swimming with GranZ…

Cohen got to help decorate cupcakes for the wedding…

Me and Marissa, my sister-in-law, making cake balls…

My brother, Kyle, meeting Keegan for the first time…

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